Users can play games by using hardware such as a home game console and a PC. With such a device, the user can cause an action for a game, including, for example, a character operation within the game, by making an operation input via an operation input interface and an input device including a finite number of buttons or keys (operation members) such as a gamepad, a keyboard, and a mouse.
At present, various games have been released, and the operation input method using the above-described operation input interface is set for each of the games. In other words, the user needs to memorize or learn an operation input method pre-defined by the developer of each game in order to cause a predetermined action in the game that the user plays. In this respect, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No H08-044518 discloses a technique for integrating the operations of application software for which different operation input methods are provided, thus facilitating the use of the software.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H08-044518 describes a conceptual method that enables an operation input method for a general operation such as cursor movement to be used by other applications. However, in general, a general-purpose operation input interface that is used to play a game only includes a limited number of operation members such as buttons and an analog stick, as described above. More specifically, for any game genre, in general, a plurality of actions that can be used under the same situation within a game are distributed to such a limited number of operation members or assigned to a combination thereof so as to prevent these operations from being assigned to the same operation member. That is, with an operation input interface that can only use a limited number of inputs, the actions that the user can use for each game are limited inevitably or in consideration of the user operability. In particular, an action common to game applications, for example, games of different game genres, is not necessarily present, and therefore, the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H08-044518 has not been applicable. For example, even for a character moving operation, an operation member used for a suitable operation input varies depending on whether a screen for a game represents the game world two-dimensionally or three-dimensionally. Thus, there has been the possibility that the use of the method disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H08-044518 may force a complicated operation input method on the user.
In addition, there are various game genres such as action, RPG (Role-Playing Game), and FPS (First Person Shooting), and the games of each genre are released by a plurality of developers or publishers. On the other hand, the games of the same game genre may have similar actions that can be used by the users for an operated character, even though they are provided by different developers. For example, the operation input method for the games of the action genre is configured to cause an operated character to perform basic actions in the genre, including running, jumping, attacking, and rolling, etc. For example, the operation input method of the games for the FPS genre is configured to cause an operated character to perform basic actions for the genre, including running, jumping, aiming, shooting, fighting, and throwing, etc.
However, even for a basic action used in common for the games of the same game genre, the operation member to which the action is assigned may vary from one developer to another. This difference in the assigned operation member may cause a problem, for example, when a user who is accustomed to playing a given game plays a game that is of the same game genre but is provided by a different developer. More specifically, since the games of the same game genre may be similar, the user may perform an operation input to which the user is accustomed in a situation where an instant operation of the user is required, for example. Consequently, there is the possibility that an operation that is different from the action intended by the user may occur in the game. Such an occurrence of a different action may lead to a result that may be disadvantageous to the user (e.g., the game is over), thus possibly reducing the user's interest in the game.